Long Delayed Conviction Sends Rochester Man to Prison

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - A Rochester man is headed to prison for a shooting that occurred nearly 5 years ago.

An Olmsted County judge in April found 43-year-old Abdusalam Omar Hussein guilty of two counts of second-degree assault, one involving a dangerous weapon, and a felony count of illegal possession of a firearm. He was accused of shooting another man multiple times in the leg in an attack that occurred on the morning of November 3, 2019.

According to the criminal complaint, the victim told Rochester Police he had been sleeping when Hussein entered his unlocked apartment, started kicking him and waving a gun around, before he opened fire. Police reports stated the victim suffered five gunshot wounds to his leg and a minor gunshot wound to a finger.

Later the same morning, an employee of a gas station on 37th Street Northwest reported that a vehicle had pulled up next to his in the parking lot and the other driver threatened him with a handgun. The criminal complaint says Hussein later made a 911 call, during which he claimed he was a child soldier and that he had an unloaded gun in his possession.

The court document indicates law enforcement officers were able to trace the call and located Hussein driving north on Highway 52. At that point, Hussein told the 911 dispatcher that he was not going to stop and was willing to shoot at the officers.

He was taken into custody after the vehicle he was driving veered off the highway and rolled in an area north of Rochester. The charges say Hussein later told investigators the vehicle was stolen. Court records show he also gave a statement to police, admitting to the shooting, which he blamed on being disrespected at an earlier party.

His case was delayed multiple times due to the COVID pandemic and he was previously deemed incompetent to stand trial. That decision was later reversed.

Hussein was sentenced today to 60 months in prison for illegal possession of a firearm. He was also given lesser sentences for his convictions on the felony assault charges and will be allowed to serve them concurrently with the five-year prison term for the weapons-related conviction. The judge also gave him credit for the 552 days he has already spent in jail since his arrest.

Hussein was also charged with felony counts of tampering with a witness and terroristic threats. Court records indicate he is accused of threatening to kill the shooting victim and his mother in an effort to deter the other man from testifying against him. Hussein was free on bail at the time of the alleged incidents in 2021. He is currently scheduled to stand trial in that case in November.